Array substrate adopted for liquid crystal display device comprising insulating layer having free ends in specific profile

ABSTRACT

An array substrate adopted for a liquid crystal display (LCD) device and the liquid crystal display device are provided. The array substrate includes a substrate, a plurality of scan lines, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of switching devices, and an insulating layer, wherein the insulating layer is deposited above the scan lines and the data lines, and has a plurality of free ends. A pair of the free ends faces each other and defines a broken region, and each free end has a tilt down profile with a decreasing width facing the broken region. The profile can avoid the short circuiting between the two adjacent array pixels, which is caused by the residual reflective electrode during the process.

This application claims priority to Taiwan Patent Application No.097100582 filed on Jan. 7, 2008, the disclosures of which areincorporated herein by reference in their entirety.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

Not applicable.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to an array substrate and a liquid crystaldisplay device using the same. More particularly, the invention relatesto an array substrate which prevents the short circuiting of the innerpixels and a liquid crystal display device using the same.

2. Descriptions of the Related Art

The liquid crystal display (LCD) has gradually replaced the conventionalcathode ray tube display (CRT display) due to its many advantages suchas thinness, light weight, low power consumption, and no radioactivepollution. Therefore, LCDs have been used in display screens ofmultimedia electronic products, such as notebook computers, mobilephones, digital cameras, and personal digital assistants (PDAs).

When an LCD displays an image in a mode where light comes from thebacklight module and is transmitted through a color filter, the LCD iscalled a “transmissive type LCD”. However, the backlight module consumesa lot of power in the transmissive type LCD. The brighter thetransmissive type LCD display is, the more power the backlight moduleconsumes. Moreover, under bright environments, the displayed images areprone to interference from external light, and therefore may render theimages unclear. On the contrary, a “reflective type LCD” displays animage by reflecting ambient light. Although such an LCD may save power,the LCD exhibits a poor contrast ratio and a degraded color saturation,and cannot display images clearly under dark conditions. To overcomethese problems, a “transflective type LCD” is carried out as acompromise between the transmissive type LCD and the reflective typeLCD. Since the transflective type LCD uses both backlight and natural orartificial light, it may be applied in many circumstances. Thetransflective type LCD consumes less power compared to the transmissiveLCD.

The general structure of the transflective type LCD, from bottom to top,comprises a backlight panel, a lower polarizer, an array substrate, aliquid crystal layer, a color filter, an opposing electrode substrate,and an upper polarizer. The top view and three cross-sectional views ofdifferent sections are shown in FIG. 1A, FIG. 1B, FIG. 1C, and FIG. 1D,respectively. FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view along line A-A′ in thearray substrate of FIG. 1A; FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view along lineB-B′ in the array substrate of FIG. 1A; and FIG. 1D is a cross-sectionalview along line C-C′ in the array substrate of FIG. 1A. As shown in FIG.1A, an array substrate 1 comprises a substrate 101, a plurality of scanlines 103, a plurality of data lines 105, a first dielectric layer 1013,a second dielectric layer 107, an insulating layer 109, a plurality oftransmissive electrode layers 111, a plurality of reflective electrodelayers 113, a plurality of switching devices 117, and a third dielectriclayer 135.

When producing the array substrate 1, the insulating layer 109 will bedeposited above the third dielectric layer 135 (as shown in FIG. 2A) inadvance to compensate for the optical path difference between thetransmissive electrode layer 111 and the reflective electrode layer 113of the array substrate 1. The reflective electrode layer 113 will bedeposited above the insulating layer 109, i.e. coating (as shown in FIG.2B). Next, a photoresist 115 will be applied on the reflective electrodelayer 113 and an exposing step will be conducted to pattern thephotoresist 115 (as shown in FIG. 2C). Then, a developing step will beconducted to remove unnecessary photoresist 115 (as shown in FIG. 2D),followed by etching, and, finally, removing the entire photoresist 115.

However, as shown in FIG. 2D, in the process of developing and removingthe unnecessary photoresist 115, the photoresist 115 remains due toproblems such as the angle of the photoresist 115 being deposited abovethe insulating layer 109 in the aforementioned step and the structuredesign of the insulating layer 109 itself. If the photoresist 115remains, the reflective electrode layer 113′ is prone to stay in aregion between two adjacent array pixel areas 121 in the followingprocess of etching the reflective electrode layer 113 (as shown in FIG.1A and FIG. 2E). The residual reflective electrode layer 113′ will causethe electrode to short circuit between two adjacent array pixel areas121.

In summary, due to the bad design of existing structure, the electrodeshort circuiting between two array pixels will affect the productivityof LCDs. Therefore, it is important to prevent the residual of thereflective electrode, which further causes the electrode to shortcircuit between the two array pixels.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

One objective of the invention is to provide an array substrate adaptedfor a liquid crystal display device, comprising a substrate, a pluralityof scan lines, a plurality of data lines, a plurality of switchingdevices, and an insulating layer. The scan lines are substantiallyperpendicular to the data lines. The scan lines and the data lines arelocated on the substrate to define a plurality of array pixel areas. Theswitching devices are individually connected to the scan lines and thedata lines. The insulating layer is formed above the scan lines and thedata lines. The insulating layer has a plurality of free ends, wherein apair of the free ends faces each other and defines a broken region. Eachof the free ends has a tilt down profile with a decreasing width facingthe broken region.

Another objective of the invention is to provide a liquid crystaldisplay device, comprising an opposing substrate, a described arraysubstrate, and a liquid crystal layer. The described array substrate isdisposed opposite to the opposing substrate. The liquid crystal layer isfilled between the described array substrate and the opposing substrate.

In the array substrate according to the invention, each free end of theinsulating layer has a tilt down profile with a decreasing width facingthe broken region. This tilt down profile can prevent the varyingdeposit due to the angle and the structure of the insulating layer whenthe photoresist is exposed. As a result, when developing and removingthe unnecessary photoresist, the remained photoresist and therefore, theremained reflective electrode will cause the short circuit problembetween the two adjacent array pixel areas.

The detailed technology and preferred embodiments implemented for thesubject invention are described in the following paragraphs accompanyingthe appended drawings for people skilled in this field to wellappreciate the features of the claimed invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1A is a schematic drawing of an array substrate according to theprior art;

FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view along line A-A′ in the array substrateof FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1C is a cross-sectional view along line B-B′ in the array substrateof FIG. 1A;

FIG. 1D is a cross-sectional view along line C-C′ in the array substrateof FIG. 1A;

FIG. 2A is a schematic drawing of the deposited insulating layeraccording to the prior art;

FIG. 2B is a schematic drawing of the coating according to the priorart;

FIG. 2C is a schematic drawing of the applied photoresist according tothe prior art;

FIG. 2D is a schematic drawing of the residual photoresist after theremoval of the unnecessary photoresist according to the prior art;

FIG. 2E is a schematic drawing of the residual reflective electrodeafter the etching according to the prior art;

FIG. 3A is a top view of an array substrate of the first embodimentaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view along line D-D′ in the array substrateof FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view along line E-E′ in the array substrateof FIG. 3A;

FIG. 3D is a cross-sectional view along line F-F′ in the array substrateof FIG. 3A;

FIG. 4A is a schematic drawing of the applied photoresist according tothe first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4B is a schematic drawing of the removing of the photoresistaccording to the first embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 4C is a schematic drawing that illustrates no residual reflectiveelectrode after the etching according to the first embodiment of thepresent invention;

FIG. 5A is a top view of an array substrate of the second embodimentaccording to the present invention;

FIG. 5B is a cross-sectional view along line G-G′ in the array substrateof FIG. 5A;

FIG. 5C is a cross-sectional view along line H-H′ in the array substrateof FIG. 5A;

FIG. 5D is a cross-sectional view along line I-I′ in the array substrateof FIG. 5A; and

FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display device ofthe third embodiment according to the invention along line J-J′ and K-K′in the array substrate of FIG. 3A.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

The following will describe the detailed technology and preferredembodiments implemented for the subject invention with the aid offigures. However, the invention also may be embodied in otherembodiments or other examples and should not be limited to theembodiments described in the specification.

A first embodiment of the invention is an array substrate 3.Particularly, it is an array substrate 3 adapted for a liquid crystaldisplay device. The top view and three cross-sectional views ofdifferent sections are showing in FIG. 3A, FIG. 3B, FIG. 3C and FIG. 3D,respectively. FIG. 3B is a cross-sectional view along line D-D′ in thearray substrate 3 of FIG. 3A; FIG. 3C is a cross-sectional view alongline E-E′ in the array substrate 3 of FIG. 3A; and FIG. 3D is across-sectional view along line F-F′ in the array substrate 3 of FIG.3A. The array substrate 3 comprises a substrate 301, a plurality of scanlines 303, a plurality of data lines 305, a first dielectric layer 3013,a second dielectric layer 307, a third dielectric layer 335, a pluralityof switching devices 317, an insulating layer 309, a transmissiveelectrode layer 311, a reflective electrode layer 313, and a pluralityof spacers 319. For simplicity, FIG. 3C and FIG. 3D do not show thespacers 319.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the data lines 305 are substantially perpendicularto the scan lines 303. The data lines 305 and the scan lines 303 arelocated on the first dielectric layer 3013 of the substrate 301. Thedata lines 305 and the scan lines 303 define a plurality of array pixelareas 321. This embodiment shows three array pixel areas 321 which aredefined by two scan lines 303 and four data lines 305. Each array pixelarea 321 represents a sub-pixel, and has a transmissive area and areflective area. However, people skilled in this field may also proceedwith a different number of transmissive areas and reflective areas inother embodiments.

As shown in FIG. 3B to FIG. 3D, the first dielectric layer 3013 isdeposited above the substrate 301. In this embodiment, the substrate301, for example, is a glass substrate, while the material of the firstdielectric layer 3013 is Ge—SiN_(x). But in other embodiments, thesubstrate 301 and the first dielectric layer 3013 also may be made ofother materials. The second dielectric layer 307 is deposited above thefirst dielectric layer 3013, the data lines 305 and the scan lines 303.The third dielectric layer 335 is deposited above the second dielectriclayer 307. The third dielectric layer 335 is acting as a passivationlayer in this embodiment.

The first dielectric layer 3013, the second dielectric layer 307, andthe third dielectric layer 335, which are described before, may be madeof organic materials (e.g. a photoresist, polyarylene ether (PAE),polyamides, polyesters, polyalcohols, polyolefins, benzocyclobutene(BCB), hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ), methyl silsesquioxane (MSQ),SiOC—H, other materials, or a combination of thereof), inorganicmaterials (e.g. silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride,silicon carbide, hafnium oxide, other materials, or a combinationthereof), or a combination thereof.

As shown in FIG. 3A, the switching devices 317 are connected to the scanlines 303 and the data lines 305 correspondingly. The switching devices317 are thin film transistors (TFTs). In this embodiment, the switchingdevice 317 is formed between the reflective electrode layer 313 of thereflective area and the substrate 301 (not shown in FIG. 3A), which maybe a top gate structure or a bottom gate structure. In general, theswitching device 317 comprises a source, a drain, and a gate (notshown). The source is electrically connected to the reflective electrodelayer 313, the drain is electrically connected to the data line 305, andthe gate is electrically connected to the scan line 303. For example, inthe structure of the bottom gate (not shown), a sub-insulating layer isfurther disposed on the gate, where the source and the drain arelocated. Another sub-insulating layer is in turn disposed above thesource and the drain.

The insulating layer 309 is deposited above the third dielectric layer335 which is located above the scan lines 303 and the data lines 305.The insulating layer 309 is substantially distributed along the scanlines 303 and the data lines 305. The insulating layer 309 has aplurality of free ends 3091, wherein a pair of the free ends 3091 faceseach other and defines a broken region 3093, as shown in FIG. 3A andFIG. 3D. Each of the free ends 3091 has a tilt down profile with adecreasing width facing the broken region 3093, as shown in FIG. 3 D.Each of the broken regions 3093 is formed above the corresponding dataline 305. In this embodiment, the insulating layer 309 may be made oforganic materials (e.g. a photoresist, polyarylene ether (PAE),polyamides, polyesters, polyalcohols, polyolefins, benzocyclobutene(BCB), hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ), methyl silsesquioxane (MSQ),SiOC—H, other materials, or a combination thereof), inorganic materials(e.g. silicon oxide, silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, siliconcarbide, hafnium oxide, other materials, or a combination thereof), or acombination thereof.

The tilt down profile of the free end 3091 of the insulating layer 309projects a shape on a projection plane and the shape is substantially atriangle. A tilt angle θ is formed between the tilt down profile and theprojection plane, as shown in FIG. 4A. The tilt angle θ is substantially55.11°. But in other embodiments, the tilt angle θ may be substantiallyless than 63° or more than 55°. In other preferred embodiments, the tiltangle θ may be substantially in a range of 55° to 63°. In thisembodiment, the described projection plane is substantially a surface ofthe third dielectric layer 335.

Additionally, in this embodiment, the aim of the reflective area and thetransmissive area to obtain the same optical paths is achieved by theinsulating layer 309 based on the characteristic of the transflectivetype LCD. The insulating layer 309 is only formed in the reflective areaso that the two areas differ in thickness by the thickness of theinsulating layer 309. Therefore, the optical paths of the reflectivearea and the transmissive area may be adjusted to be the same since thereflective area can reflect light.

The transmissive electrode layer 311 is located in the transmissive areaof the array pixel area 321. The transmissive electrode layer 311 is atleast partially located between the insulating layer 309 and the thirddielectric layer 335, as shown in FIG. 3B. The transmissive areacomprises an electrode made of a transmissive material, which is knownas a transparent electrode, i.e. the transmissive electrode layer 311.For example, the transmissive material may be Indium Zinc Oxide (IZO),Aluminum Zinc Oxide (AZO), Cadmium Tin Oxide (CTO), Hafnium Oxide(HfO₂), other materials, or a combination thereof.

The reflective electrode layer 313 is located in the reflective area ofthe array pixel area 321. The reflective electrode layer 313 isdeposited above the insulating layer 309, and forms a non-continuousprofile 3131 (as shown in FIG. 3D) at the broken region 3093. Thereflective area comprises an electrode made of a reflective material,i.e. the reflective electrode layer 313. The reflective electrode layer313 may be made of a reflective material such as Au, Sn, Cu, Ag, Fe, Pb,Cd, Mo, Hf, Nd, Ti, Ta, other materials, or a combination thereof.

The reflective electrode layer 313 may be a reflecting plate or areflecting mirror. The reflective electrode layer 313 preferably has arough surface. The rough surface may be achieved by forming a roughsurface with Al bumps or forming a rough surface of the insulating layer309 before depositing the reflective electrode layer 313 thereon. Therough surface can reflect light uniformly, and therefore increase thereflecting efficiency. A portion of the reflective electrode layer 313is formed downward through a contact hole (not shown) and penetratesthrough the insulating layer 309 and the third dielectric layer 335 toconnect an under metal layer (not shown).

The spacer 319 is formed in the broken region 3093 and located above thedata line 305 of the broken region 3093. The spacer 319 maintains a cellgap between the substrate 301 and an opposing substrate (not shown). Thespacer 319 is a photo spacer in this embodiment, but the spacer 319 maybe a spheroid or a rod in other embodiments. The material of the spacer319 may be selected from polymeric materials such as melamine resin,urea, benzoguanamine resin, acrylate, or silica.

Based on the above structure, when producing the array substrate 3, theinsulating layer 309 will be deposited above the third dielectric layer335 in advance. The reflective electrode layer 313 will be depositedabove the insulating layer 309, i.e. coating. The following processesare as follows: coating the photoresist 315, exposing the photoresist315, and patterning the photoresist 315 (as shown in FIG. 4A). Then,developing and removing the unnecessary photoresist 315, etching, and,finally, removing the photoresist 315 in the broken region 3093 (asshown in FIG. 4B) are carried out.

As shown in FIG. 4B, during the process of developing and removing theunnecessary photoresist 315, the desired removing photoresist 315 can besubstantially removed with no residual photoresist 315 due to theparticular structure, the shape, and the specific angle of the free end3091. Therefore, the reflective electrode layer 313 won't remain in aregion between the two adjacent array pixel areas 321 in the followingetching of the reflective electrode layer 313 (as shown in FIG. 4C).

The second embodiment of the invention is also an array substrate 5adapted for a liquid crystal display device and having a structureapproximately similar to the structure of the described firstembodiment. The top view and three cross-sectional views of differentsections are showing in FIG. 5A, FIG. 5B, FIG. 5C, and FIG. 5D,respectively.

The difference between this embodiment and the first embodiment is thatthe edge of the broken region 5093, which is formed by a pair of thefree ends 5091 of the insulating layer 509 of the array substrate 5, isthe same width as the data line 505 located in the aforementioned brokenregion 5093, as shown in FIG. 5A and FIG. 5C. In the array substrate 5of this embodiment, the reflective electrode layer 513 between thetransmissive electrode layer 511 and the broken region 5093 is less thanthe first embodiment, so that there is no short circuiting between thetwo adjacent array pixel areas 521.

More specifically, the described first and second embodiments bothprovide a plurality of free ends. Each of the free ends has a tilt downprofile with a decreasing width (as shown in FIG. 3D and FIG. 5D). Whena photoresist is exposed, this tilt down profile can avoid its angleaffecting the amount of exposure. As a result, the short circuitingbetween the two adjacent array pixel areas due to the remainedphotoresist and reflective electrode layer can be avoided in thefollowing steps of development and removal of the unnecessaryphotoresist.

As shown in FIG. 6, the third embodiment of the invention is a liquidcrystal display device 6. Particularly, it is a transflective typeliquid crystal display device 6 comprising a described array substrate,an opposing substrate 623, and a liquid crystal layer 629. The describedarray substrate is the array substrate 3 in the first embodiment. Thus,FIG. 6 is a cross-sectional view of a liquid crystal display devicealong line J-J′ and K-K′ in the array substrate of FIG. 3A, whereinthese two cross-sectional views are located on different planes.However, an array substrate of the liquid crystal display device 6 maybe the array substrate 5 of the second embodiment or other arraysubstrates with the invention features in other embodiments.

The described array substrate comprises a substrate 601, a plurality ofscan lines 603, a first spacing layer 604, a plurality of data lines605, a second dielectric layer 607, an insulating layer 609, atransmissive electrode layer 611, a reflective electrode layer 613, aplurality of switching devices 617, a plurality of spacers 619, a firstdielectric layer 6013, a third dielectric layer 635, a polysilicon layer637, and a metal layer 639. The detailed structure of the arraysubstrate is described in the first and second embodiments.

The first spacing layer 604 is used to insulate and separate the scanlines 603 and the data lines 605. The first dielectric layer 6013 has apolysilicon layer 637. The switching device 617 of each array pixel islocated between the second dielectric layer 607 and the first dielectriclayer 6013, wherein FIG. 6 mainly shows a source 617 a of the switchingdevice 617. The polysilicon layer 637 is interposed between thesubstrate 601 and the first dielectric layer 6013. The metal layer 639is located between the second dielectric layer 607 and the thirddielectric layer 635. A portion of the metal layer 639 is formeddownward through a via hole (not shown) and penetrates through thesecond dielectric layer 607 and the first dielectric layer 6013 toconnect the polysilicon layer 637.

The insulating layer 609 will be deposited above a portion of the thirddielectric layer 635 of the reflective area in advance to compensate forthe optical path difference between the transmissive electrode layer 611and the reflective electrode layer 613. Then, the reflective electrodelayer 613 will be deposited above the insulating layer 609. In thisembodiment, the insulating layer 609 of the reflective area has a roughsurface. Therefore, the reflective electrode layer 613 above theinsulating layer 609 has a rough surface to reflect light uniformly, andincreases the reflecting efficiency. The reflective electrode layer 613is formed downward through a contact hole (not shown) of the insulatinglayer 609 to connect the metal layer 639. Additionally, the transmissiveelectrode layer 611 is electrically connected (not shown) to thereflective electrode layer 613.

The opposing substrate 623 is disposed opposite to the array substrate3. The opposing substrate 623 comprises an opposing substrate 6231, acolor filter 6233, an overcoat layer 625, a common electrode 627, aplurality of alignment elements 631, and a plurality of black matrixes(BM) 633. The opposing substrate 6231 is also a glass substrate in thisembodiment.

The corresponding color filter 6233 of each array pixel area (not shown)is red, green or blue. The array pixel area defines a sub-pixel, andeach array pixel comprises three sub-pixels corresponding to these threecolors. However, the colors are not limited. Depending on the designrequirements, each array pixel may comprise sub-pixels of one color (asdescribed before), two colors, three colors, four colors, five colors,six colors, seven colors, and so on. Besides the red, green, and bluecolors, the corresponding colors may further comprise black, white(colorless), brown, amethyst, jacinth, cyan, or other colors in thecolor coordinate system (CIE).

The overcoat layer 625 is optionally formed between the common electrode627 and the color filter 6233. Due to the susceptibility of the colorfilter 6233 to the corrosion of acids and bases and the uneven thicknessof the layers of the individual colors, the adding of the overcoat layer625 can prevent damage to the color filter 6233. The overcoat layer 625therefore renders the surface of the color filter 6233 to be smoother.

In order to obviate light leakage, the liquid crystal display device 6of this embodiment further comprises a plurality of black matrixes 633located above the opposing substrate 6231. The black matrixes 633 arecovered by the color filter 6233. But the black matrixes 633 are notlimited to this structure, the black matrixes 633 also may be positionedabove the color filter 6233 or at other locations. The black matrix 633may be made of an organic material (e.g. a color photoresist, amulticolor resist stack, or other colored materials), a metal (e.g. Au,Sn, Cu, Ag, Fe, Pb, Cd, Mo, Hf, Nd, Ti, Ta, other materials, nitridesthereof, oxides thereof, alloys thereof, or a combination thereof), or acombination thereof.

The common electrode 627 is located above the spacers 619, the liquidcrystal layer 629, and the alignment elements 631. The common electrode627 is made of an Indium Tin Oxide (ITO) in this embodiment. However,the material is not limited thereto, and the common electrode 627 alsomay be alternatively made of Indium Zinc Oxide (IZO), Aluminum ZincOxide (AZO), Cadmium Tin Oxide (CTO), Hafnium Oxide (HfO₂), othermaterials, or a combination thereof.

Each of the alignment elements 631 is disposed between the two arraypixel areas, individually. The alignment elements 631 are conventionalprotrusions, and may be made of organic materials (e.g. a photoresist,polyarylene ether (PAE), polyamides, polyesters, polyalcohols,polyolefins, benzocyclobutene (BCB), hydrogen silsesquioxane (HSQ),methyl silsesquioxane (MSQ), other materials, or a combination ofthereof). However, the materials are not limited thereto. The alignmentelement 631 also may be made of inorganic materials (e.g. silicon oxide,silicon nitride, silicon oxynitride, silicon carbide, hafnium oxide,other materials, or a combination of thereof), or a combination of anorganic material and an inorganic material. The alignment elements 631are used to orient the liquid crystal molecules 6291 for the purpose ofmulti-domain vertical alignment.

The spacers 619 are positioned near each other in the liquid crystallayer 629. The spacers 619 are used to separate the downside substrate601 of the array substrate and the upside opposing substrate 6231.Therefore, the distance between the downside substrate 601 and theupside opposing substrate 6231 may be controlled.

By controlling the cell gap with the spacers 619, the liquid crystallayer 629 may be filled between the downside substrate 601 of the arraysubstrate and the upside opposing substrate 6231. The switching devices617 are used to receive the signals of the data lines 605 and the scanlines 603, and to control the operation of the liquid crystal layer 629.The liquid crystal layer 629 comprises many liquid crystal molecules6291. Each of the liquid crystal molecules 6291 near the substrate 601or the opposing substrate 6231 is substantially perpendicular to asurface of the substrate 601 or the opposing substrate 6231. The liquidcrystal molecules 6291 will rotate under the electric field influence ofthe transmissive electrode layer 611 and the reflective electrode layer613, and therefore their arrayal direction may be changed. In addition,a portion of the liquid crystal molecules 6291 of the liquid crystallayer 629 near the alignment elements 631 are substantiallyperpendicular to a surface of the alignment elements 631.

The above disclosure is related to the detailed technical contents andinventive features thereof. People skilled in this field may proceedwith a variety of modifications and replacements based on thedisclosures and suggestions of the invention as described withoutdeparting from the characteristics thereof. Nevertheless, although suchmodifications and replacements are not fully disclosed in the abovedescriptions, they have substantially been covered in the followingclaims as appended.

1. An array substrate adapted for a liquid crystal display device,comprising: a substrate; a plurality of scan lines and a plurality ofdata lines, arranged substantially perpendicular to the scan lines,being formed on the substrate to define a plurality of array pixelareas; a plurality of switching devices, connected to corresponding scanlines and the data lines; and an insulating layer, formed above the scanlines and the data lines, having a plurality of free ends, wherein apair of the free ends faces each other and defines a broken region;wherein each of the pair of free ends has a tilt down profile with adecreasing width facing the broken region; the insulating layer issubstantially distributed along the scan lines and the data lines, andthe broken region is formed above one of the data lines.
 2. The arraysubstrate of claim 1, wherein the tilt down profile projects a shape ona projection plane and the shape on the projection plane issubstantially a triangle in plan view.
 3. The array substrate of claim2, wherein a tilt angle formed between the tilt down profile and theprojection plane is substantially less than 63°.
 4. The array substrateof claim 3, wherein the tilt angle is substantially more than 55°. 5.The array substrate of claim 4, wherein the tilt angle is substantially55.11°.
 6. An array substrate adapted for a liquid crystal displaydevice, comprising: a substrate; a plurality of scan lines and aplurality of data lines, arranged substantially perpendicular to thescan lines, being formed on the substrate to define a plurality of arraypixel areas; a plurality of switching devices, connected correspondinglyto the scan lines and the data lines; an insulating layer, formed abovethe scan lines and the data lines, having a plurality of free ends,wherein a pair of the free ends faces each other and defines a brokenregion; and a reflective electrode layer being formed above theinsulating layer and forming a non-continuous profile at the brokenregion; wherein each of the pair of the free ends has a tilt downprofile with a decreasing width facing the broken region.
 7. The arraysubstrate of claim 6, further comprising a transmissive electrode layerin the array pixel area, and the transmissive electrode layer being atleast partially located under the insulating layer.
 8. The arraysubstrate of claim 1, further comprising a transmissive electrode layerat the array pixel, and the transmissive electrode layer being at leastpartially located under the insulating layer.
 9. An array substrateadapted for a liquid crystal display device, comprising: a substrate; aplurality of scan lines and a plurality of data lines, arrangedsubstantially perpendicular to the scan lines, being formed on thesubstrate to define a plurality of array pixel areas; a plurality ofswitching devices, connected correspondingly to the scan lines and thedata lines; an insulating layer, formed above the scan lines and thedata lines, having a plurality of free ends, wherein a pair of the freeends faces each other and defines a broken region; and a plurality ofspacers, wherein one of the spacers is formed in the broken region andlocated above one of the data lines; wherein each of the pair of thefree ends has a tilt down profile with a decreasing width facing thebroken region.
 10. The array substrate of claim 1, wherein the materialof the insulating layer comprises an organic material.
 11. A liquidcrystal display device, comprising: an opposing substrate; an arraysubstrate of claim 1, disposed opposite to the opposing substrate; and aliquid crystal layer, filled between the array substrate and theopposing substrate.
 12. The liquid crystal display device of claim 11,wherein the opposing substrate comprises a color filter.